It is that simple. While some people think that you are either born a certain way, or have to actively work towards it. I do think you can become one, and not even know it.

Let's start off by stating yes, you should actively work towards it, especially if you are naturally more polymathic/multipotentialite.

What I hope you get out of this post, is that over the course of our lives. We do a lot more than we truly realize. Even if you worked in the same company for example, there are different roles you moved into. Many times they are completely different too, from operations to management, to C-level if you're lucky. In each case, that career change lead you to mastering a new skill or niche.

We live to be 80-100 years old.

If we were to take into account the 10,000 hour rule. Which is already more of a guideline rather than a "rule". Then that often equals out to about a decade of experience. While you can finish the 10,000 hours sooner, or become an expert in say 8,000 with superior practice.

Let's just look at the 10 year example...

Starting at age 20, then changing careers every decade, you can get 6-8 careers within your lifetime (+ or - with standard deviation).

Each one can perhaps be in the same related fields, so you might be what I call a "Niched Polymath". Someone with multiple expertise in highly related fields.

Or they could be completely different things, such as art, engineering, programming, etc. Thus being more of a traditional Polymath.

Juggling versus Serialized

This is something I talk about a lot on the 📧 Journey to Polymathy newsletter. Where you might take the jack of all trades approach, and do many different things at once.

Conversely, you might follow a more sequenced pattern. Akin to the career mentioned earlier in the post. One after the other.

In some rare cases you might do both, but generally those cases are highly intentional. Not to mention optimized, which is why I created the 🏔️ PolyInnovation Operating System- PIOS.

Aim for a great life

We don't know how much time we get, and we have a limited amount to begin with anyway.

Your career choices are just that... YOURS to decide. Don't let external pressure make you do one thing or another. If you want multiple careers, then work towards them.